Microsoft adds Rewards to Xbox Game Pass

Microsoft has announced a new incentive to take advantage of its Xbox Game Pass programme: It will start to distribute reward points, redeemable for game downloads, for those who complete 'quests'.

Announced back in March 2017, Xbox Game Pass offers access to a library of console games for a Netflix-style monthly payment. Users subscribing to the service can download as many of the games as they like and play them for an unlimited time period, so long as they maintain their subscription; once the subscription has lapsed, access to any of the downloaded games is lost.

For Microsoft, it's a recurring revenue stream and a way to monetise older titles that aren't selling quite as well as they used to; for gamers, a cheap way of dipping into and out of a pool of games that would otherwise cost considerable cash to own outright. Uptake, though, may not have been quite where Microsoft had hoped, so the company is looking to tempt new subscribers by offering Microsoft Rewards points to those who play Game Pass titles.

'Members can earn up to 2100 Microsoft Rewards points by playing any game from the Xbox Game Pass catalogue,' explains Microsoft's Rasmus Mortensen of the newly-launched programme. 'It’s easy to rack up points that you can spend towards your membership or DLC for your favourite games — just play the games you love and watch your rewards grow.'

Dubbed 'Xbox Game Pass Quests', the programme provides both generic and game-specific rewards: Players receiving Achievements on any Xbox Game Pass title, for instance, can receive up to 600 reward points; those trying out games from three different genres will receive 300 points; while players earning two specific achievements in Tom Clancy's The Division will receive another 200 points.

The quests are time-limited: Some, like The Division's quest, time out at the end of the month, while Mortensen has promised new quests to arrive on February 4th. At the moment, the Xbox Game Pass Quest system is live only for players in the US, with international availability scheduled to arrive in the near future. Full details are available on the official website.